The quality and postharvest life of fruit melons was evaluated. Plants of cantaloupe melon (Cucumis melo, cv. 'Vulcano'), were grown under greenhouse and two crop systems: sand-mulched soil and hydroponic perlite system. The plants were grown under cultural practices inherent in these crops. Once the fruits harvested, they were selected in homogeneous lots and an initial analysis was performed to assess the quality of fruit. The fruits were conserved at 12 +/- 1 degrees C and 90% relative humidity and every 7 days a batch was analyzed to determine refractive index, colour, firmness, and carotene content. According to the results, it appears that the firmness and the refractive index were higher in fruit grown in sand-mulched soil, possibly the different frequencies of irrigation may have increased these results. The content of carotenes was similar in fruits of both systems (1.3 and 1.5 mg carotene/100 g f.w.) and did not increase. These results suggest that the postharvest carotenogenesis process does not appear.